Friends Star Had to Make a Huge Sacrifice For the Show, But She Regrets Nothing
Jane Sibbett, who played Ross’s first wife, Carol, had to make a bizarre real-life sacrifice to join the cast — and in the end, she didn’t regret a thing.
In Friends, only six actors were considered the main cast, and everyone else was either a cameo or a recurring character. However, even amid the secondary actors, some were more crucial to the plot than others — and Ross’s first wife Carol was definitely one of the latter. She was Ben’s mother and Ross’s first failed marriage!
Despite Carol’s close ties to Ross and Ben, Anita Barone, the first actress who was hired to play the part, left Friends after the first episode because the role wasn’t big enough for her liking.
That’s when the show’s creators reached out to Jane Sibbett who we all know as the real Carol. She was happy, but there was just one detail.
Sibbett just gave birth to her son the day before the invitation came around!
“My son was born on 10 September 1994. The next day, my agent called and said, ‘Friends has come back around again; they’ve let go of Anita Barone and would like you to take over the part tomorrow.’ I said, ‘Wow, I’m kind of sore! I don’t think so.’ But my agent said, ‘Jane, this is a huge offer!’” The actress shared with The Guardian.
Even though Jane Sibbett was quite understandably hesitant about starting acting one day after giving birth, her agent convinced her. He promised that the creators would go easy on her and that she could bring her mother on the set to take care of the baby. Then, the actress saw David Schwimmer in action and made up her mind.
“The moment I saw David Schwimmer do the longest take ever, I was hooked. I knew I had to work with him,” Sibbett explained.
After that, the actress accepted the deal and took over one of the most important recurring characters in Friends. Even though taking care of her newborn son and acting at the same time was tough, in the end, Sibbett realized that the show helped her way more than she’d expected.
“I’m quite content. Obviously, I didn’t get paid the million-dollar paycheck, but I’ve had the best of Friends. I was able to raise my children and I got offered some really sweet projects,” she concluded.
What looked like the most insane and unhealthy idea at first turned out to be Jane Sibbett’s best career decision that allowed her to raise her kids in peace and opened more doors for her. Friends works in mysterious ways, doesn’t it?
Source: The Guardian